Method of making laces



UNliiiD4 STATES rATENT oFFIcE.

-MENTS5 T0 THE AMERICAN WIREMOLD- ('JOMEANY,l OF CON'NECTICU''.l,

A. CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

METHOD OIE' MAKING LACES. g

To all 'whom t mag comm:

Be it known t at I, ANKER Pn'rnRsEN,

citizen of the United States of America, and' resident of Winthrop, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new l and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Laces, of which the following is a specification. v

This invention relates to a new method or art of making tipped laces for shoes or other eyeleted garments.

Heretofore such laces have been made from solid, 'flat or tubular braid or woven fabrics of. indenite length, such as cords, tapes or tubes of linen, silk, cotton or other suitable material which is measured off, cutl into sections, and each end of each section then provided with a tip. In some cases the tip is a ferrule lor wrapping of metal or wire fastened upon the lace by an adhesive or mere friction; or such a ferrule or wrapping is formed by celluloid or other plastic, and attached by cementing or by softening the tip and compressing it in place. Such celluloid or plastic tips are durable 4and otherwise advantageous, but heretofore, so

, far as I am aware, have been found to be diflicult to attach properly to the end of the lace, so that skilled labor is required, and so that material is wasted and the result isv often uncertain. It is difficult to secure the accuratelength of lace from tip to tip required by the trade.

The present invention provides a new method of producing tipped laces of accu'- rate length, the' material of thelace in the preferred product extendin over the outer surface of a solid tip, whic has a durable and cer-tain attachment to the lace, the tips being of the same texture -and color as the.,

lace, and havin other desirable characteristics including c eapness due to avoidance of skill. and of any waste of material during lanatory instances of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a diagram side elevation of a braiding machine illustrating one preferred step in the manufacture;

Specification of Letters `Patent.

blank of material for a t1 Patented June'v, 1921.

.Appli-cation led August 2 5, 1919. Serial No. 319,788.

Fig. 2 is a diagram elevation illustrating a severing operation;

Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the adjaf cent tipped ends of two laces; Y

Fig. 4 is a longitud'nal section of the tip of a'lace;

Fig. v5 is a diagram section of dies forl forming the tip;

Fig. -6 illustrates modified means suitable for feeding tip blanks in the practice of the method and Y Fig. 77 illustrates one form of shear for Isevering the tipped laces.

'The art of making includes applying a in accurate spaced-relation to a length o fabric, forming two tips at the end of each placed blank, and severing the formed tips apart to separate the completed laces. A

Referring to Fig. l the usual type of lace comprises a tubular braid 1 formed of yarns- 2 braided at the bottom edge of a tubular mandrel 3 of a suitable circular braiding machine, and carried away from the machine as formed in the direction of the arrow a. by a suitable take-up roll or rolls, not shown. The product is a tubular fabric of indefinite length. If desired, the fabric may be made by weaving or knitting instead of braiding but braiding is preferred.

In order to carry out one step of the new method, blanks for lace-tips are introduced into the' forming fabric at predetermined intervals corresponding to the distance fromtip to tip` of the desiredlace, `and are held in place by frictional engagement within -the formed tube until a subse uent sta e `of the manufacture. These blan s may e ofany material suitably plastic under pressure or heat or the action of a solvent, such as Celluloid, and may be introduced by Ahand or any suitable means, for instance, as

shown in Fig. 1 when the operation is by braiding, rolls 5, suitably driven at a speed conformable to that of the take-up or growth rate of the tube 1, may be operated to move in the direction of arrow?) a continuous strip 6 of sheet celluloid or other suitable substance, guided in a. direction xial ofthe machine by aguide 7. Motion of the rolls 5 may be either a slow continuous motion, or an intermittent faster motion, in either case timed to insert the end of the stri 6 in the forming braid at the proper istance from the-position of a previously inserted tip blank. When the end of the strip 6 is engaged by the braid or other fabric formed'about it, the tip blank 8 is severed from the strip- 6, for instance by shears 9, and thereafter travels with the braid as pulled off b the take-up rolls.

Another way o introducing the tip blanks atthe proper distances apart `is shownl in Fig. 6, the tip blanks 8 yin this case being attached at the proper distances to a core-cordil() by any convenient means, as b-y sticking the cord to the blanks with an adhesive, by stringing the cord 10 through punctures in the blanks, or otherwise. The core-cord is engaged within the braid and taken away in direction a by the take-u and so introduces the blanks 8 successive y at the proper intervals. r

The string of fabric 1 is now treated to mold the tips and attach them within the tubular braid of which it is composed. The

draft of the yarns 2 will have rolled or curled thin flat blanks 8 somewhat, and these tip blanks and the fabricl over them may readily be consolidated to ether and formed into solid tip-sections 8a, ig. 2, by compression, and if desired, the application of heat, for instance, in a suitable mold comprising a fixed die 11 and a movable compressing die 12.. If desired the part of the string 1 containin the blank 8 may be moistened with a so vent for the material of the tip, or ya fusible adhesive in solution, before treatment by the preferably heated dies 11 and 12. The action of the dies 11 and 12 is such as toy further curl the blanks into a compact coil as clearly indicated in Fig. 5.

` This action tends to pinch the fabric wherebe under the same circumstances.

by to securely hold the blanks in osition relatively thereto and when a so vent is used, as aboveI indicated, before treatment by the dies, the",pressure exerted by the latter serves to squeeze the dissolved portion Vof the plastic material into the interstices of the fabric, the sheet form of the blank bein yacted upon. much more readily by a so vent than would a solid rod of material mate result of the action of the dies together with the solvent,is to produce a solid tip of substantially cylindrical form and in which theparts are so intimately united as to preclude any possibility of separation in use.

To complete the separate laces each having a tip 8b Figs. 3 and 4 4the tips section 8a is sheared through preferably while still warm or plastic from the previous treatment, the result being to cover over the Sheared end of the tip with and thoroughly The ultito embed the cut edge of the fabric 1 in the material of the tip as shown at 8c. If desired, the tip ends may be additionally formed and ointed, as by severing them by notched s ears 15, Figs. 2 and 7 or. by pushing by hand into a conical forming die after severing by any kind of rkfnife or shears.

.While for vpurposes of illustration the making of a tubular fabric with inserted blanks 8 has been described above, it will be understood without further description by skilled weavers, knitters or braiders that the fabric may be tubular only at the place of insertion of the blank, and fiat or solid elsewhere.

The consolidated tip in any case is immovably fastened to and within the fabric and at an accurate distance from the other tip defining the length of lace, is inconspicuous and an effective penetrator of eyelet-holes. The tip blanks may be of transparent or any desired color of material to match the color of the lace 1.

What I claim is:

1. The art of making tipped laces comprising forming a fabric inserting'therein at predetermined intervals blanks of sheet material for tips, and subsequently completing the laces by consolidating the sheet material and the surrounding fabric by com pression whereby to coil said material upon itself and embed the fabric therein and severing the lace from the length of fabric.

2. The art ofmaking tipped laces comprising forming a fabric, inserting therein at predetermined intervals blanks of sheet material for tips, and subsequently completing the laces by consolidating and shaping the material and the surrounding fabric by compression in a forming die whereby the sheet material is caused to coil upon itself and severing the lace from the length of fabric.

3. The art of making tipped laces comprising forming a tubular fabric having therein at spaced intervals blanks of lastic sheet materlal and subsequently sub]ecting the fabric and the inclosed blank to heat and pressure at the places of the blank whereby to cgil said blank upon itself to form atip section.

4. The art of making tipped articles of textile .fabric lwhich comprises making a tubulary fabric of component yarns by weaving, braiding or knitting, feeding into the forming fabric a blank of 'sheet materlal, causing said blank to receive an initlal transverse curl by engagement wlth the yarns adjacent the fabric formin point, and Subsequentl subjecting the fa ric at the -place of thev lank to pressure to complete the curlin of the blank upon itself.

. 5. lie art of making tipped articles of textile fabric which comprises making a tubular fabric by braiding or the like, feeding into the forming fabric a strip of plastic sheet material, moistening said fabric, af- 5 ter its formation, at the place of the inclosed strip with a solvent for the material of the strip, and subjecting the fabric at the place of the strip to pressure whereby to coil said stri upon itself.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, 10 this 13th day of August 1919.

ANKR PETERSEN. 

